When Selena Gwin and Jake Dontavion
first met, she had always been a "cat person" and he had always been a "dog
person."

But instead of fighting like cats and dogs,
the two enjoy relative harmony (the dogs do tolerate an occasional nose-swipe
every now and then) with their two cats and two dogs in their Southeast
Portland apartment.

"There was a lot of compromising all
the way around," Gwin says. "If our relationship wasn't so strong, might have
caused more friction, but it ended up working out for us."

The couple, who have been together
for 11 years, acquired their brood gradually. Dontavion grew up with dogs and had
one when he met Gwin. They took on the cats after their former roommates could
no longer care for them, and acquired another dog, Mama Pigs, together.

Many pet lovers use the terms "cat
person" or "dog person" loosely to describe their preference for one or the
other species. And many of us have a general concept of what we mean when we
talk about these people.

While these notions are largely based
on speculation, the concept of why people prefer one species over the other has
garnered more academic attention over the last few years.

In a 2010 University of Texas study, researchers found those
in the canine camp were more extroverted, agreeable and conscientious than cat people. Those who favor
felines tend to be more neurotic but more open to art, experiences and
unconventional beliefs.

A 2008 study
from Ball State University revealed that most cat
owners see themselves as having personalities similar to felines – in other
words, more independent and less submissive - while most dog owners described
themselves as friendly and dominant.

How much such studies
really mean is up for debate.

"I feel like we're almost opposite
of the stereotypes," Gwin says of she and her fiancé.

While she enjoys spending time with
her wide circle of friends, Dontavion is more of a homebody.

"I think I use my dogs as an excuse
sometimes," he admits. "But they do force me to be more sociable. I do have to
take them out and about to parks, where I meet other dog people."

The fact that dogs require regular walks
means their owners are more visible and could explain why we think they're more
social, suggests Mary Lee Nitschke, a psychology professor at Linfield College
who is also a Certified Applied Animal Behaviorist and dog trainer.

"We know people form their
impressions from the data that's available to them," says Nitschke.

"How often do you meet a cat at the
bank? Not very often," Nitschke notes. "I don't know if that means that cat
people are not as social."

What it does mean is that the two
difference species live and play in very different environments.

Historically, cats were typically
solitary hunters whose main role for humans was either as religious figures
(think Egyptians) or for hunting rodents. Dogs, meanwhile, lived in packs or
were assigned jobs assisting people.

Our species preference can cut
across many dimensions aside from personality alone: there's the physical
reality of dealing with a dog that drools or a cat that sheds. Childhood
memories also play a role, Nitschke says. Many people are simply more
comfortable with a species with which they're familiar.

But sometimes people convert. Take
David Boersema, who grew up around dogs
and didn't begin to fancy felines until he was a young adult.

The philosophy professor at Pacific
University – who bucks one stereotype just by being male – had so many positive
cat encounters in college that he decided to adopt one.

Now, he is a proud "cat daddy" to
Karloff, who was abused by a previous owner and walks with a limp, and Mycroft,
who was shot in the eye.

Dogs typically want to please their
master, he says.

"With a cat, if it approaches you,
it wanted to approach you. I guess I'm a cat person because I get a lot from
that."

Dogs can be loud and aggressive, he
says, and that's just not the case with cats.

Felines also taught him negotiation
skills he can apply to his human relationships.

"I truly believe that there's a real
valuable lesson for people to learn about how to engage with another being," Boersema says, "where you come to an agreement, an
understanding, by negotiating, as opposed to one of the two parties
commanding."

Longtime cat owner Darka Stebivka, meanwhile, didn't discover
the joys of canine companionship until
her early 20s, when she began dog-sitting for friends.

"When it comes to having dogs,
there's a more immediate emotional connection," says Stebivka,
a Portland-based writer and musician. "You just feel
this friendship, like the dog would do anything for you."

She feels such a strong connection
with her 12-year-old husky-shepherd mix that sometimes she almost feels she can
read the dog's mind.

"If
I can read hers," she says, "then she can maybe read mine in some way."

Stebivka says she
isn't inclined to believe any stereotypes about personality type based on
species preference.

She speculates that the cliché of
the "crazy cat lady," for instance, simply came about because caring for a cat
is simply easier for an elderly woman to care for.

Stebivka
hasn't changed drastically since she identified as a cat person, she says; a
dog simply suits her better now.

"Frankly, I think my
dog takes care of me," she says. "I would not be in the park six days a week if
not for my dog."

Highlights from the University of Texas study:

The study, published in
the September 2010 issue of the journal Anthrozoös,asked 4,565 participants to
self-identified as a either a dog person, cat person, both, or neither.
Researchers then assessed their personality based on the "Big Five" personality dimension commonly
used by psychologists.

Researchers found that:

46 % of respondents identified
themselves as dog people, while only 12% called themselves cat people.

Nearly 28% described themselves as
both, and 15% said they were neither.

Dog people were 15% more extroverted,
13% agreeable and 11% more conscientious than their cat-loving counterparts.

Monique BalasCat lover Selena Gwin and longtime dog owner Jake Dontavion combined their love for their respective species with each other. Here the couple is shown with their brood (from left to right): Gigi, O.Z., Scribble and Mama Pigs.

Feline fanatics were found to be 12%
more neurotic and 11% more open than dog people.